"A reward?!"
Takero's spirits lifted. He immediately pulled up his system panel.
Power Level: 21
"It went up to twenty-one!" Seeing the new number on the screen, Takero broke into a wide, happy grin.
For the last half-month, he had trained until he could barely move, and all he got for it was five points. He never imagined that taking down one oversized cat would earn him a full point from the system.
"This is it! This is how a Saiyan is supposed to get stronger!"
He pumped his fist in the air, feeling the small but real increase in his power. He finally understood what the system was all about. Forget all that difficult training and conditioning; that was just the basics. The real key was combat! He needed to challenge strong opponents and break through his limits in life-or-death battles. In short, fighting was the answer. This idea fit perfectly with his natural Saiyan instincts.
"I can't stay cooped up here anymore! I have to go out to sea!" Takero's eyes burned with determination, as if he could see countless walking experience points waving at him from across the ocean. Every martial artist and monster he met would become a stepping stone on his path to becoming the strongest in the universe.
Filled with a powerful desire for battle, Takero drifted off to sleep. He dreamed of punching Frieza and kicking the God of Destruction.
The next morning, however, when the sun lit up the beach, Takero's excitement came to a screeching halt. He stood at the edge of the shore, staring out at the endless blue ocean where the water met the sky, and his fiery ambition was instantly extinguished.
"Uh… how am I supposed to get out there?" he wondered out loud, scratching his spiky hair.
He had no boat and not nearly enough food for a long journey. Even if his Saiyan body could swim for hours without getting tired, the ocean was massive. Without a map or a compass, he would just be swimming in circles. He couldn't even ask the system for directions; it wouldn't even tell him what year it was.
"Sigh… Looks like I'll have to do this myself," Takero sighed, wishing he knew the Sky Dance Technique from Dragon Ball. "If I could fly, I wouldn't have this problem."
But for now, all he could do was complain. Shaking his head, he turned around and headed back into the dense forest. He had to build a boat, which meant he needed to find wood that was strong enough and big enough for the job.
A week passed by in a blur of chopping and hammering as Takero worked on his boat.
Far out at sea, a large and unique pirate ship was slowly sailing closer. It was a three-masted ship with a sturdy-looking hull. Its most impressive feature was the figurehead: a fierce, lifelike dragon head that looked both majestic and wild. The main sail flew a familiar flag: a skull with three vertical scars over its left eye and two crossed swords behind it.
Anyone who knew anything about the pirates of the Grand Line would have been terrified to see that flag and would have sailed away as fast as they could. This was the Red Force, the ship of the Red Hair Pirates, a crew that had recently become famous in the New World.
Its captain, "Red-Haired" Shanks, was a former apprentice on the Pirate King Gol D. Roger's ship and now had a bounty of over 100 million Berries1. His top officers—First Mate Benn Beckman, sniper Yasopp, and the crew's main fighter, Lucky Roux—were all powerful men with bounties over 100 million as well. The entire crew was made up of elite pirates, a force so terrifying they could sail through the most dangerous seas without fear.
However, for such a legendary crew, the mood on the ship was surprisingly relaxed.
"Hey, Shanks! Get up! Stop lying on the deck like a drunk," First Mate Benn Beckman said, his deep voice tinged with annoyance.
Shanks, who had been sprawled out on the deck, shot up, his straw hat crooked on his head. "What is it, Beckman? Did you find land? Tell me it's land!" he asked excitedly.
Beckman calmly flicked the ash from his cigarette and gave his captain a sideways glance. "No," he said flatly. "I just think you look like an idiot lying there, and it's bad for the ship's image."
"What?!" Shanks jumped to his feet like his tail had been stepped on. "Hey! I'm the captain of this ship, you know! The captain!"
Beckman took a long drag from his cigarette and slowly blew out the smoke. He gave Shanks a look that said,
Are you sure about that? "Oh, really? In that case, dear captain, could you tell me who decided to suddenly change our course to go see some 'singing whale,' which ended up getting us lost at sea for nearly two months?"
"Uh… well…" Shanks's confidence immediately disappeared. He awkwardly scratched his famous red hair and looked away. "That was… an accident! Just a little accident! Hahaha…"
"Pfft—hahaha!"
"You've got no shame, Captain!"
"Beckman's right! This is all your fault!"
The rest of the crew burst into laughter, and the deck was filled with a cheerful and noisy atmosphere. Shanks didn't get angry; he just laughed along with them, and the awkward moment was forgotten.
In the middle of all the noise, the ship's sniper, Yasopp, spotted something from the crow's nest. "Hey, everyone! I see something!" he shouted. "There's an island straight ahead!"
"An island?! Where?!" Shanks ran to the front of the ship and snatched the telescope from Yasopp. He looked through it and saw a small black dot on the horizon.
"Hahahaha! See? I knew we'd find something! Alright, boys!" Shanks waved his arm dramatically, his straw hat fluttering in the wind. "Set a course for that island! Full speed ahead!"
"Yeah!" the crew roared as they quickly adjusted the sails. The
Red Force cut through the waves, speeding toward the unknown island.
Before long, the ship's hull gently slid onto a fine, white sandy beach.
"Land! Oh, I've missed you so much!" The moment his sandals touched the solid ground, Shanks acted like an excited kid, waving his arms and legs around before dramatically bending down to kiss the sand.
You couldn't really blame him for acting so crazy. After being lost at sea for two months, staring at nothing but the endless blue ocean, anyone would be thrilled to finally see land again.